Tag: Rob the robot

I finally got my hands on an NES Test Station. I won this one on eBay. It was in non-working condition. In the description the seller said that it didn’t power on so I figured why not try to win it, it sounds like a fun little project if the price is right.

Once I got the test station I traced the “no powering on problem” to a bad power supply. I found another working power supply on eBay for $10 plus shipping. It required a little soldering and splicing wires to replace it but it was pretty simple. Once I got the new power supply in, the test station turned on so it was time to “test the test station”.

I did find a problem with the Control Deck test area. I ended up having to resolder the wiring for the A/V inputs because they were not working. Luckily, that was the only other thing I had to fix. It was a fun project and this is something I’ve been wanting for a long time.

Upon returning home to test it I found that everything worked perfectly except ROB wouldn’t move up or down. I was able to fix ROB so I thought I would share some knowledge on what I did to fix the problem.

How to fix ROB

It’s much easier to fix him if you turn him upside down. This is due to the fact that ROB is filled with gears and if he’s upside down the gears will not fall out when you remove the screws that hold ROB’s torso together.

NES ROB Repair - ROB Turned Upside Down

Once the ROB’s torso screws are out the inside will look like this:

NES ROB Inside View

When ROB can’t move up or down it’s almost always do the the front gear/axle assembly. Back in the day Nintendo glued a part of it together and over time the glue can dry out and when that happens the gears won’t turn on the axle. Below is a picture of the gear I’m talking about:

NES ROB Inside Problems

All you need to do is remove of ROB’s as well as the gears that move the arms. Next you can remove the gear/axle assembly and put super glue on the part listed in the previous pic.

Reassembly

It’s much easier if you prop up ROB’s arms when you put him back together. You need to make sure everything lines up otherwise you will have to take it apart again because it will not work unless it’s lined up perfectly.